


Before the Moon Falls

by Clocketpatch



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 16:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clocketpatch/pseuds/Clocketpatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of Ruby-and-White, daughter of the Qetesh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before the Moon Falls

**Author's Note:**

> Story written for [daystarsearch](http://daystarsearcher.livejournal.com/) who bid and won in the [helpbrazil2011](http://community.livejournal.com/helpbrazil2011/) fan auction.

  
_Saving the world, all in a day’s work._

New Zealand, dredged him out of a swamp.

I could use an adult friend too. The other day, I got you wrong too. Me and my big mouth.

This was my prison. My people exiled me. We have a… hunger. Mine was too strong. They trapped me here for eternity with only a game station for company.

But my hunger, I need to feed. I can’t help the way I am.

No, don’t send me back into the darkness. Please. I can’t be alone.

**

 

 

 

 

 _The greatest stories are those that resonate our beginnings and intuit our endings, our mysterious origins and our numinous destinies, and dissolve them both into one._  
\- Ben Okri quotes

 

 

 

Qetanesh is a dead world. This isn’t unusual. The universe is full of dead planets and moons and asteroids. Most of them have never lived and never will. They are lifeless spheres (or oblongs, or abstract shapes depending on their weight) made up of rock and gas, ice and dust. Some are very beautiful in their desolation. They are dark and quiet, bright and abandoned. Silence echoes across their empty canyons. Storms plough across their deserts. No one sees their lightning strikes. No one is put in danger by their floods.

Qetanesh was not always dead. That is not to say that it supported life which has since gone extinct; saying that is like saying a dog is only alive if it has fleas. The planet itself was once alive.

The rocks and gasses and burning oceans flowed in deliberate pattern. It was a life form with lava in its veins and its breath was the wind. Qetanesh painted pictures with clouds and rainbows and danced in orbit. Qetanesh thought slow, world-sized thoughts. Qetanesh sang.  
The entire system of Qetan was filled with living worlds. Once.

No more.

**

 

Gather round calves and kittens and little green shoots; gather round children of Kanda, Queta, and Qetesh. Come sit around the circle. Do not shove. There’s room enough for all. Yes Scarlett-Sienna, that rock is wet, why don’t you trade with Azure? Her roots will enjoy the moisture.

Quiet now, this is an important story you are about to hear. I sense your excitement. You know that this story was forbidden to anyone less than fifteen cycles for a long while don’t you? The council thought it was too upsetting for children, but after the Heliotrope incident the curriculum was changed. The hope is that telling you this tale will help you to understand how important it is to keep the Virtues. Most especially the First Virtue of self-control.

This is the story of Ruby-and-White, daughter of the Qetesh and devourer of worlds:

**

 

 _Consider your origin; you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge._  
\- Dante Alighieri

 

 

 

The system of Qetan is different from other places in the universe. Once upon a time, our many-home was known as “The place where the worlds sing”. Qutan teemed with life. It was one of the most bio-diverse systems in creation. There were the Wise Old Worlds singing their songs to the solar winds. There were the vast star-whale pods which came through to feed on their psychic streams. And there were the Mother Moons.

The first-home of the Qetesh, as you know, was on the fifth moon of Qetanesh. It was the driest of the Mother Moons once — yes, it was dry, Azure, dry as a peel beetle’s belly. It has been terraformed since, but it started out dry. There were very few nutrients in the soil. The plants that grew on the fifth moon had to be crafty to survive.

The Qetesh were the craftiest of all for they discovered how to grow mouths and eat any unwary beetle or rodent that happened to crawl inside - Yes, I know that it’s rude to eat that way Scarlett-Sienna , but you must remember that this was a very long time ago. They hadn’t invented manners yet.

Why, you ask, would any creature crawl into the mouth of a Qetesh? No, no, Umber-under-Rose, that’s skipping ahead. Yes, that is what happened _later_ , but at first creatures crawled into Qetesh mouths because they were curious and knew no better. There were no predators then you see; Not in the whole of our many-home. The Qetesh were the first. That is not something to be proud of, Azure. Do not look so smug.

Eventually the animals grew wise to the Qetesh and avoided their mouths. The Qetesh withered and starved. They were so terribly hungry. Their stomachs roared and convulsed. Their pain rose to the stars.

But the emptier their stomachs were the clear their minds became. An empty stomach is a clear mind —

Remember that children, it is one of the lessons.

The Qetesh realised that if food would not come to their mouths then they must bring their mouths to their food. The Qetesh separated into two parts: Mouth/Mind and Stomach/Hunger. The wise Qetesh ignores their Stomach/Hunger and eats only enough to grow good roots. That is another lesson.

The Qetesh of the past were not wise. They ate every living creature on the fifth moon. They feasted and were glutted. Their minds were conquered by their stomachs. And, as always happens to those who feed the stomach but not the mind, they descended again quickly into starvation. It is not wise to eat too much children. You may be sated for a day, but your bloated belly will be hungrier still once the food is gone.

And so the first-home was made barren. The Qetesh scrambled across the dry sands looking for any morsel, but there was none to be had. An empty stomach is a full mind, a quick mind. The Qetesh looked up and sent their thoughts to the stars. They saw the star whales feeding off the Wise Worlds’ songs and found salvation. From that day forth the Qetesh lived on thought and feeling rather than flesh.

Still, having devoured all life on the first-home, there was little emotion left on the fifth moon that was not Qetesh in origin. There were the star whales and the songs of worlds suspended high in the air. There was Mother Moon and her sad thoughts beneath. The fifth moon mourned the loss of her rodents and beetles even as she celebrated the craftiness of her Qetesh. None of the other Mother Moons had evolved any creatures like them.

None of Mother Moon’s siblings were ready when the Qetesh came. With rumbling stomachs and crafty minds the Qetesh finally escaped the bounds of their dry first-home. But, before leaving to colonize all the worlds and moons of Qutan, they composed the Virtues. The Virtues are… are… No. This is a lesson. Class, do you know the Virtues?

You shuffle your feet in the sand and observe your toes instead of the stars. How is it that you were all so eager to interrupt your lessons but now that you are called upon to teach you go silent? I know that you know your Virtues — every infant does and you are not infants.

What is that, Most-Brilliant-Viridian? You must speak up. Your voice is so faint it will be eaten by the winds. And your colour, Most Brilliant indeed, though I suppose that’s only puberty. Yes, self-control. And what is the next, Umber-under-Rose?

Empathy.

Forethought.

Respect.

Yes, these are the first four Virtues. What is the fifth? No, Scarlett-Sienna , emptiness is not a Virtue, it is only a state of being. What was that Azure? You are almost as quiet as Viridian. I know you can speak louder than that. You were loud enough when you interrupted before.

Yes, Azure, that’s right:

Patience.

**

 

 _Law is mind without reason._  
\- Aristotle

 

 

 

Ruby-and-White was seeded many thousands of years after the initial colonization. Qetesh were living well then on many moons across the Qetan system. They had managed to harness their hunger and use it to create wonders. They lived in harmony with the Kanda and the Queta peoples, though the Kanda and the Queta did not realize that they lived with Qetesh —

That was part of the craftiness you see. The Qetesh remembered how the rodents and beetles had fought back before the end and so they disguised themselves to fit their surroundings. The Qetesh lived as a shadow people for millennia, giving the gift of their intellect and taking controlled measures of emotion and memory as a return. A feeding Qetesh can implant bits of self into their prey, and while the Latter Virtues forbid killing and manipulation, those had not yet been written.

Even so, it was not a bad time. It was a time of secrets. It was a time of science, peace and discovery.

Then there was Ruby-and-White.

We pity Ruby-and-White as much as we despise her. No one knows the family which seeded her. Perhaps she was abandoned as a sapling, a seed even. Perhaps she struck her own way. Either way, she was alone. If any know of her origin they will not claim her, and so we must claim her as a whole. Much as we wish to pretend otherwise, in this we must always speak the truth: Ruby-and-White was a daughter of the Qetesh.

It has long been known that some Qetesh feel the call of the belly more strongly than others, but I do not think that any ever felt that call as strongly as Ruby-and-White. Many lived in isolation during the time of secrets and shadows, but to endure that loneliness and that appetite together — it is little wonder that she went mad.

All she desired was more — more love, more hate, more life. Ruby-and-White did all she could to fill her gut. She ate too much and dulled her already demented mind. She let her cover slip and the Kanda and the Queta became aware, for the first time, of the aliens in their midst. Then came misunderstanding. Then came terror.

Yes, we three races are allies now, but understand children that the Kanda and the Queta were not pleased to discover how much of their civilizations had been built on a deception. They were afraid as they discovered that their oldest friends, that their leaders, their school teachers and their scientists had been all along _other_. And worse, to learn that they could not trust these people. That they could not even trust their own thoughts.

Those were dark times. There were purges and inquiries. Much blood and sap was spilled. It got worse and worse, and at the centre of the conflict sat Ruby-and-White growing fat off of the maelstrom she had created.

Of course, after a time there was calming and reason prevailed as it will in the end. The Latter Virtues were written and an unsteady peace was forged. But by then it was far too late. Ruby-and-White was insatiable. Hunger never goes away children, it only increases. It is an addiction. Ruby-and-White’s hunger grew so large that she did the unthinkable. She did what even the savage, barely-evolved Qetesh who had devoured all life on the first-home had dared not do —

Ruby-and-White took the life of a Mother Moon.

Outrage followed. Anger. Ruby-and-White glutted herself. She had found a two-fold source of food: the rage of the people and the terror of the Worlds.

She consumed the Mother Moons. She ate the souls of the Wise Old Worlds. And what could we do to stop her? She was so strong by then. Her mind was a vestigial thing to her stomach, but her will, oh — the force of her will.

She commanded us all. It was… forgive me, children, for I do not mean to shake so. It is the memories. I am sorry. Ruby-and-White was contained by… it was a dark time, children, I am sorry. You must ask your other tutors because how she was over-powered and contained, that is important. That information must be preserved.

She was placed in an isolation cell. Some argued that she should be given no company but her hunger as repayment for her crimes, but that would have gone against the newly forged Latter Virtues:

Never theft

Never deception

Never manipulation

Never murder

Never cruelty

Ruby-and-White was given a 5D gaming unit with which to simulate company, travel, adventure — and enough artificial emotion to keep her hunger pains manageable. She was confined to her cell but using the unit she could call back to Qutan if she wished to speak over her problems and gain guidance. This was a function which Ruby-and-White used only once in an attempt at manipulation and to scream profanity when that failed. Those curses are the last record of speech we have from the lost, tragic daughter of the Qetesh.

The gaming unit was also a tracking device. It beeped out after approximated seven hundred and eighty years. We assume that the cell’s hazard avoidance system failed and it was hit by a meteor or careened into a sun. Such is the fate of those who…

Yes, Azure?

No, well, yes, I suppose she could’ve done it herself as some last gesture of rage, but that would’ve been a terrible thing to do. We’ve come so far in hunger-therapy since those dark days. The new surgeries… I myself… There were discussions about recalling Ruby-and-White for therapy and treatment before the transmitter blanked out. Such a tragedy. Yes, Azure, patience will save us all.

Identity? Ethics? No, I don’t think so at all, Azure. I think that kind of statement is completely opposite to the Virtues. We lose ourselves in hunger — you don’t gain anything from it. If you define yourself by hunger then that’s all the identity you’ll have. There’s nothing individual about a stomach. I should know, I… but that’s behind me now. Yes, Azure, I believe I grasp your point, but that’s the tragedy of Ruby-and-White. In the end she was nothing but Stomach/Hunger, no mind to speak of. Such potential. All wasted.

No, Azure, yes, I’m sure that… well, it is a great philosophical debate isn’t it? Perhaps we can continue it later.

I’m sorry children, I’m feeling weak. I must retreat to a good grove for sun and joy. Viridian, you should report to a nurse, your colour has been fading these past few… my word! You’re almost white. And Scarlett-Sienna, you’re paler too. Umber-under-Rose, you look… Umber-under-Rose? Can you hear me at all?

Azure, perhaps you should be in charge for a bit. Your fellow age mates are all looking wilted, perhaps it’s the weather. It has been a hot spring. But you’re thriving aren’t you, Azure? You’re so bright. I’m not… yes, Azure, patience, always. You’re not so blue anymore Azure; more purple and… no… lilac… pink… red even, and there’s beige there too, cream…

Just like… but how did you? It’s not possible… What have you done to Azure? Such a sweet young girl.

No, please don’t. I’m not —

**

 

 _You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or are they holding you back?_  
\- W. Clement Stone

 

 

 

Once the system of Qutan teemed with life. The Worlds hummed to each other across the void and the Mother Moons bore forests and savannahs, oceans and tundra. Once there were peel beetles, long-eared hassat, and graceful stone-breeze antelope. Once there were places so thick with life, with plants, and birds, and song. Even the star at the centre was alive; a sun communicating with the Wise Old Worlds through flares and magnetism. Star Whales voyaged across the spaces between drinking light.

And the light was life also. So much colour. So much vibrance…

**

 

_When I was a kid I never dreamed the universe could be so strange and beautiful. Now, finally people I can talk too. It’s like a dream come true._

I didn’t mean to be evil.

I wanted your love, your dependence, your hope…

And if not that, then at least your despair.

 

 

\- Ruby

 

 

 

* * *

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
This story archived at <http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=40829>


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